Complications
by Limegreen16
Summary: Robin could have hated herself for it, but every step of the way down she was half-waiting for him to come down and ask her again what was wrong, to apologize, to assure her she was still important in his married life. B/R, very minor B/N.


On a beautiful June morning, in a small church in Staten Island, Barney married Nora in an intimate ceremony presided over by his James' father.

He had three best men. Marshall, Ted and James. Loretta sat proudly in the front pew next to Jerome, and he watched subtly as they made small talk. Lily was teary the entire time, or so she would tell him later, bawling into his suit. And Robin was a bridesmaid. He thought she looked beautiful as always, but he held it back and watched her from where he stood.

For a second up there he looked around at his friends for some validation, reassurance that he was doing the right thing. Ted gave him a thumbs-up. He searched for Robin last. Her gaze was steady, stony, and while he was pretty sure she knew he was watching her, she refused to meet his eyes.

'I do,' he said later. Nora beamed at him and he thought, finally, it was all falling into place.

XXX

For their honeymoon, they went on a month-long tour of Europe. The tour guide was, of course, Nora. And the interpreter. He admired the way she bargained and moved through the streets as if she belonged in every single country.

Blissful as that month was, he was happy to go home. More than happy, really, ecstatic. He missed the bar and the gang and everything American. He'd bought presents for everyone too and excitedly gave them off one day at MacLaren's.

'For Lily and Marshall—'

'Wait, what? So we only get one gift?' Lily interrupts. 'Because we're married? We're two different people, your wedding planner slash bridesmaid _and_ a best man!'

'It's the post-natal stress,' Robin intoned, and they all laughed.

'But we bought you a crib.' Barney held up a finger. 'Hand-crafted from Italy, with a silver engraving of Eriksen—you know, a kind of crib a celebrity would buy. Andy would love it!

They looked at each other. Marshall frowned. 'Does this mean only Andy gets gifts from now on?'

'We got Ted a really old book of poems,' Barney said loudly, tossing it to Ted. 'Nora picked it out. It's in Latin. Or something.'

Ted flipped through the pages admiringly.

'Thanks, Nora!' He was grinning and muttering some gibberish Barney did not bother to understand. The best for last. He took out a wooden box and laid it on the table.

Nora opened it up, picked the handgun easily and talked about where they got it, how they bargained for it and how old it was. He looked over at Robin eagerly. He'd hoped she'd look happy. At the same time, he felt robbed of the pleasure of delivering the news to her.

Robin cocked the gun. They all screamed at her until she smiled, rolled her eyes and said, 'Guys, relax. It's not loaded.'

XXX

As Nora recounted their various adventures, Robin tried her best to smile and block it out, admiring her handgun in silence. Did Nora know, she thought, that it meant something? It was the exact same kind of gun she had lost on vacation with Barney once, one of the few things her father had given her.

It was not one of their best moments. They'd been on the verge of a horrible fight and before she could unbutton her shirt to stop it, Barney walked out wordlessly. She dug into her bag for her phone when she realized the gun wasn't there anymore. When Barney returned after dark, he found her cursing and tossing clothes out of her luggage, the bed inside out, the closet already empty.

'What's wrong?'

'I lost my gun. Not that you'd care,' she snapped.

'The tiny one?'

She didn't answer. In a fit of frustration, Robin threw her shoes at the wall. Like she expected, Barney paused, turned around and walked out again. She wanted to throw his stuff out and lock the door, yell at him, ruin his precious suits and push him off a ski-lift the next day.

About an hour later, Barney returned, pink from the cold, his hair a little awry from the wind. While Robin was folding up all the clothes she'd thrown out of her bag and ignoring him, he just stood there.

'I tried to look for it. I went back to the ski-lift place, the restaurant we went to yesterday and the bar we dropped by last night. Couldn't find it. I'm really sorry, Robin. I looked everywhere.'

And then she was standing up looking at his sincere, apologetic expression and kissing him, all frustrations washing away.

Robin dared to glance at Barney. He looked at her and smiled, his arm snaked around Nora. They looked every bit as newlyweds should. They looked happy.

XXX

Barney and Nora bought a new place together, bigger than hers, less bachelor-y than his. They had fun picking out furniture for their new place. His favorite? The bed, of course. It was raised on a platform, the wood was solid and dark, and Nora insisted on multiple pillows.

But instead of selling his apartment like she thought he did, he lied and kept it. It was where he put all his stuff she didn't approve of for their new place (like his porn collection, his two obscenely huge TV's and his Storm Trooper). Besides, he really couldn't let go of the place. Too many memories. It wasn't a big deal. He hardly ever went there anymore anyway.

Only Robin knew. By chance, he bumped into her around the corner of his apartment.

'Robin? What—why are you here?'

She looked pretty surprised too. 'I met up with a contact for work. It's for a story we're working on. Shouldn't you be at work?'

'Me?' He looked around. 'I just came by to buy myself some coffee.'

'Barney, there's plenty of coffee in and around your office building.'

'I needed some air.'

'So you walked right across Manhattan?'

'Yeah.'

She still looked suspicious.

'In fact, I'm just about to have some coffee at"—Barney turned around and read the name of the shop—"Joe's Espresso. Want to join me?'

Still looking doubtful, she shrugged and said, 'Sure.'

They walked into the shop and ordered their drinks, Barney paying, and got a place in the quiet corner. The place was half-empty as it was barely after noon. Soft music played in the background.

'So.'

'Hmm? This coffee's awesome.'

'Are you going to tell me why you're really here?'

He weighed his options. There really was nothing wrong with keeping his apartment. And who would better understand that and keep it a secret too than Robin?

'I was going to my apartment,' he admitted.

'Didn't you sell that?'

'I was going to.'

'I can't believe you're doing this, Barney—'

'It's not like I'm doing anything wrong, as long as Nora doesn't know, 'he defended.

'You've only been married three months!'

'I know, it's just—"

'And you're already cheating on her!'

'—I, woah, what?' He sat back. 'I'm not cheating on her!'

'Then why would you have an extra apartment?'

He just laughed, while Robin looked bewildered. 'I just like hanging out by myself sometimes, do normal stuff married people don't do. Well, at least I don't think they do. Awesome out. Not that being married isn't, it's just differently awesome.'

XXX

It was absurd of Barney to keep that apartment, even for him, but he'd always had a twisted notion of reality. As a boyfriend, he'd thought it was perfectly fine to go to strip clubs and stare at other girls. She didn't like it then. But, she thought, at least he didn't cheat on her.

They went up to his apartment, which felt strangely empty and hollow. All that were left were things Nora probably didn't want, like the robot in the diaper and his huge television sets, a dozen or so suits, his collection of porn, etc. She thought about the countless nights she had spent there with him, how different things were now. How different they were now.

'Video games?'

Barney was holding out a controller, smiling. She silently stamped out her thoughts and turned to him.

'Sure. Why not?'

He grinned and put a game in, as she sat down on the couch and readied to play. She was struck by the idea that she couldn't be herself around him anymore. There were boundaries between them now. She had to be careful not to cross them, either moral or emotional, because she would never forgive herself for it. Nora was a good person, and she and Barney were genuinely happy.

'Robin?' Barney was playing madly, eyes intent on the TV. 'You're losing by a mile. Not that I'm complaining.'

'Oh—sorry.' She cleared her throat. What was wrong with her? 'I'm just a bit distracted, that's all. Sorry. Can we restart the game?'

Barney stopped the game and put down his controller, shifting his body to face her, his expression concerned. His arm rested atop the couch between them.

'What's wrong?'

'I'm fine. Put the game back on, Barney.'

'You're not fine,' he insisted, frowning. 'Why don't you ever talk to me anymore?'

She bit her lip.

'Robin. Talk to me.'

She felt her phone vibrate in her handbag and read the text, while Barney watched quietly. _Robin, where are you? Big news all of a sudden. Come to station. _

'Work emergency. I need to leave.' She stood up and gathered all her things, just as he was standing to stand as well. 'No, you don't need to get up. Just play your video games, Barney.'

'Wait, are you _mad_ at me?'

'No, I'm not. Look, I just need to get to work, okay?'

She left quickly, not waiting for his response. Robin could have hated herself for it, but every step of the way down she was half-waiting for him to come down and ask her again what was wrong, to apologize, to assure her she was still important in his married life.

He didn't. And she couldn't blame him.

**This is all assuming the wedding and Lily's giving birth are almost at the same time. Please review, guys! I have other chapters lined up. Just testing the waters. :) **


End file.
